OOPHORECTOMY AND OVARIOTOMV. 133 



IS inserted by an assistant into the vagina; this generally 

 penetrates as far as the os uteri, occasionally passing into one 

 of the. cornua. The operator introduces the fore or middle 

 finger of his right hand, or a blunt hook, into the abdomen, 

 keeping it close to the abdominal wall and pushing the intes- 

 tines on one side, the object being to find the probe which an 

 assistant is moving cautiously about. Having found this it 

 becomes an easy matter to follow up each horn in turn until 

 the ovary is reached. 



In young animals the latter may be simply scraped off with 

 a blunt scalpel, but in older ones it is advisable to ligature 

 above and below the ovary with aseptic catgut or silk before 

 excising. In either case care must be taken to see that the 

 whole of the ovary is removed, or the animal will still be 

 liable to become pregnant,i thus defeating one of the main 

 objects of the operation. The cut ends of the cornua are 

 returned into the abdomen, the wound in the abdominal wall 

 being treated as already described {see laparotomy). 



The percentage of successful results is high^ if antiseptic 

 precautions are observed. The chief unfavourable sequelae to 

 be feared are those of collapse, peritonitis, descent of the 

 bowels, hernia, and persistent disinclination to feed. The first 

 and last mentioned have given us considerable trouble in feline 

 patients, several having refused to feed although apparently 

 all right in every other particular, and post-mortem examina- 

 tions have given no clue as to the cause of death. Iodoform 

 powder and other dressings which are at all poisonous should 

 always be used very cautiously for wounds on small dogs and 

 cats, and we have had good reason to suspect that iodoform 

 dressings were sometimes at the root of the mischief Peri- 

 tonitis can be avoided by rigid attention to antiseptic pre- 

 cautions, and by putting the animals in a clean place after 

 the operation. To avoid hernia and descent of the bowels 



1 "Veterinary Record," Vol. XII., p. 15. 



2 "Journal of Coinparative Pathology and Therapeutics," Vol. X., p. 175; Vol. XI., 

 p. 254. " Veterinary Record," Vol. XII., p. 14. 



